(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

Okay, so we're in Proverbs 28, it's part 1, it's going to be from verses 1 to 14. If you don't have a pen, there are some at the back, but it's Proverbs chapter 28, it's starting in verse 1 in it, and verse 1 reads, The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold. As a line, I'd like to pray before we get going. Father, thank you for your word, thank you for these first 14 verses in this chapter. I'm going to preach through tonight, Lord, help me to preach them accurately and clearly, Lord, in a way that people will be able to apply them to their lives, Lord, and help me to do that in the right way, help everyone here to have attentive ears to the different topics, the different subjects, the different Proverbs that we're going to look at tonight. Jesus, thank you for all of this. Amen. Okay, the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a line. So you've got two extremes here, you've got the wicked and the righteous, but there are also levels to them as well, okay? The word wicked and the term the wicked both appear for the first time in the Bible in Genesis, when talking about the men of Sodom, okay? Just to help you understand what sort of people we're talking about here, Genesis 13, 13 says, but the men of Sodom were wicked and sinners before the Lord exceedingly. Genesis 18, 23 calls them the wicked, it says, and Abraham drew near and said, Wilt thou also destroy the righteous with the wicked? So here it's talking about reprobates, okay, specifically in Genesis it was Sodomites, children of the devil, the wicked, and who are of the wicked one, okay? That's what it's talking about when it's talking about the wicked here. As opposed to the righteous, which can only be said of those that have trusted Christ for salvation, okay? There is no one righteous without, you know, Christ's righteousness imputed unto them. Romans 5, 19 says, for as by one man's disobedience, many were made sinners, so by the obedience of one shall many be made righteous. Talking about Jesus Christ there, his being obedient unto the death of, you know, on that cross. But we're made righteous through faith our Lord Jesus Christ. However, after salvation, we're also called to live righteously, aren't we? Okay, so it's one thing that the righteousness of Christ imputed unto us, but we are called to live a righteous life. In Ephesians 6, 14, we're told to stand therefore, having your loins go to back the truth and having on the breastplate of righteousness. Okay, so it's something that helps us, protects us through life, the more righteous we try to live. And for me, Proverbs 28, 1 works on a scale. Okay, the wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are bold as a lion. Are all saved people as bold as a lion? Anyone thinks that every saved person, that person that you just got saved earlier, those seven salvations today, did they suddenly automatically become bold as lions? They called on the name of the Lord and then they turned around there and basically roaring at people. No? Okay, it doesn't work like that, does it? But those trying to live righteously, those putting on that breastplate of righteousness are. Okay, what does it mean to be as bold as a lion? So in case you're wondering, how does that look? What does that mean? I preached this verse a while ago, and it was back in the sermon a couple of years back I preached on this verse. I was talking about the male lion against a pack of hyenas, and I was kind of showing, you know, and explaining. I'd be looking, while preparing for this sermon a while back, I'd be looking at animal videos and lions versus hyenas. You know, you end up going down the kind of YouTube rabbit trail. Next thing you know, everything, every time you ever put on YouTube, it's just lions fighting hyenas and stuff. But what I saw commonly was that you'd have like this huge pack of hyenas. Hyenas are tough animals, they have strong bites, you know, there's a lot of them. They can take, they'll take on, you know, sometimes take on prides of lions, okay, and then the male lion comes along. And he just comes into view and they're scrambling, you know, they're all going every direction, they're almost squealing as they run away. And it's not that, you know, the thing with that male lion is that it's not that, well, he's just bigger, he's just stronger, it's his boldness. He comes and you just see it's written on the lion's face, isn't it? You ever seen a male lion in the zoo or something? They have a boldness, don't they? I once did something for my wife many years ago on her birthday and I got her a kind of experience where she fed, she was feeding these lions. And it was through a cage, but they were still pretty awesome, right? And they were kind of just coming up to the cage and they're pretty, pretty awesome creatures, right, to get up that close and personal with. Well, there's something, there's something bold about them and it's his boldness that I noticed in these things that just stopped him needing to fight. In all these videos and wildlife things, he never really needed to fight because of his boldness. He'd run along and they'd just all be running. If they'd all turned and fought him, they probably would have won, but it's his boldness that stopped that. What makes him bold? I'll tell you what makes that male lion bold is knowing the power he has. He knows that he has power, he knows that he's powerful, he knows that he's strong. And when you're saved and living for God, you have a power too, okay? You have power. 2 Timothy 1.7 says, For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind. Okay, so we have that power, yeah, there should be that love with that and that's something that we should act upon, it's an action, but also of a sound mind. So it's not a reckless mind, okay? That boldness that goes with, you know, being, you know, the righteous, bold as a lion, the lion isn't reckless, is he? So some people get confused, they think boldness is just kind of saying things, saying what you want, saying what's on your mind to people. That's not necessarily bold, that's a lot of the time stupid, yeah, and it's rude a lot of the time as well. Some people think bold is just kind of, well, I'll just, you know, do whatever I want, act how I want, that's not bold, that's just stupid, okay? And the lion isn't reckless, the lion actually makes, you know, wise decisions a lot of the time and they are careful not to get injured and hurt. It's not an emotional outburst mind, that's not about boldness, okay? Just being someone that has outbursts and tells people this and that because they can't control themselves, that's not boldness. When you're saved, you're living right, you can be bold in your power because the power is of God, okay? And you can be bold in God as opposed to the wicked here who are so often full of paranoia, aren't they? Living in constant fear, I don't know if you've been around people like this, I don't know, it just makes me think about those sort of, you know, when you see, I remember years ago during COVID, being in a supermarket and this sodomite just kind of running around like this with his mask on and it was like, it was quite funny. It was sad to see, but it was funny, right? Just seeing these people just panicking, petrified, and a lot of the time, you know, these reprobates are actually in a lot of paranoia or a lot of fear a lot of the time. So there are levels of wickedness, so the worst types of people have the most to flee from. You can imagine, can't you, if you're really wicked, you're doing wicked things all the time, you're going to be probably in a constant state of paranoia that's going to catch up with you. But you can be saved and do wicked things, can't you? Yeah, there's a lot of sin is wicked and we can all, we have a propensity to sin, we have that sinful flesh, you can do wicked things, you can be wicked to some degree. And do you know what that will affect? When you're sinning, when you're living in sin, when you're doing wicked things, your boldness. It will affect your boldness. Now, I'm not talking about fake boldness, OK? Real boldness like that line, because you can't really be bold in your God when you're up to all sorts that God tells you not to do. It's hard to be bold in God's protection, in God being there for you, God delivering you from all these situations when you're getting yourself into them, when you're not doing what he tells you to do. And do you know why this is so important, ultimately, this verse? And what's this verse telling us? To basically live righteously, isn't it? Yeah, look, if you're saved, you've got no chance at this. But if you have the righteousness of Christ, he's telling you to live righteously as well, to be able to be bold is a lie. And why is it so important? Because it's our boldness that affects lost people's salvations. Ultimately, isn't it? As we all know, the more bold we are, the more likely we are to get people saved. That is probably the key ingredient to soul winning, isn't it, is boldness. Being bold, being confident, not overly, not forceful, not pushy, but just being bold, being confident in the message that you're bringing. The wicked flee when no man pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion. So the lesson is to get righteous, righteous and get bold like that lion. OK, that's that's the message there. That's quite a quite a clear verse. OK, verse two, for the transgression of a land, many of the princes thereof, but by a man of understanding and knowledge, the state thereof shall be prolonged. Now, I believe that this proverb is pointing out the rarity of good leadership, first and foremost, obviously being national and regional. You could say he's saying that there are many princes or principles, we might say, leaders that will lead in transgression. He said for the transgression of a land, many of the princes thereof. OK, however, to prolong or to keep the state, maybe we might say the condition of a place needs a man of understanding and knowledge. So think of the state of so many places in the world. For example, think of many places in the world under Muslim leadership. Hellholtz, absolute hellholtz. You know, there's some place in the world where, I mean, you wouldn't want to bring a dog there. Absolutely terrible. A lot of it is because of poor leadership. It's bad leadership. Or now under, for example, here, maybe forget Muslim leadership, maybe you haven't been to those sort of places. How about under Nazi liberal type leadership that we have in this nation and quickly turning into a hellhole, right? Under just bad, bad leadership, under, you know, one of the many princes and many principles and many leaders who will happily just wreck a place, trash a place. And sadly, there are many like that, OK? They will destroy a place through transgression. And that applies to all areas of leadership, though, OK? So it's not just national. How many fathers destroy their homes? How many fathers will just wreck their homes, destroy their homes, let their pride, their egos, their lust for some sin or other, destroy their family, ruin their wives, ruin their kids. It's a responsibility. Leadership's a responsibility. And we can wreck it. We could destroy a place, destroy a home. How many bad pastors have destroyed churches? There's a lot of that going on. Rip them off through covetousness, fallen into some other horrible sin. OK, that's happened throughout history, hasn't it? How many businesses are destroyed by bad bosses? Bad leadership, just wrecked businesses, wrecked, sometimes even very successful businesses throughout history, because many of those types of princes, for the transgression of a land, many of the princes are of. So how can we be good leaders? Verse two says, for the transgression of a land, many of the princes are of, but by a man of understanding and knowledge, the state thereof shall be prolonged. So how do we get that understanding and knowledge? Well, Proverbs 2, 6 says, for the Lord giveth wisdom, out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding. So it comes from the Lord. The understanding and knowledge comes from his mouth. However, you can apply, you can also apply this to the world as a whole, which is just full of transgression and bad princes. OK, what will prolong it? What will prolong the world as a whole when the God, man, Christ, Jesus, rules and reigns for a thousand years? When the God, man, Christ, Jesus, rules and reigns for a thousand years. OK, it said here, and talk about the millennial reign, it said, for the transgression of a land, many of the princes are of, but by a man of understanding and knowledge, the state thereof shall be prolonged. Obviously, that's a final application there. But in general, the proverb is reminding us that bad leadership is common and destructive. So be a good leader, learn from him, learn from the Lord, who is going to ultimately be that good leader in the future. A poor man oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food. So isn't it just the mean, rich and powerful that oppress people? That's maybe some people look at it like that. They're the enemy, the rich ones, those poor, poor, always being oppressed. Well, you know, the noble poor, they're just the victims in life all the time, aren't they? Well, no, there's oppression found everywhere. Oppression is just to remind you to load or burden with unreasonable impositions, to treat with unjust severity, rigour or hardship, as to oppress a nation with tax or contributions, to oppress one by compelling him to perform unreasonable service. So it's to bully, to take advantage of in various ways, right? And when a poor man does it, it's like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food. Now, this is what it's talking about here is a worthless rain. Instead of being what's needed when farming in a hot region to help the food production, OK, rain was a good thing. It's not that, it's just sweeping through, OK? It kind of comes and goes. It's useless, worthless. And this suppressing poor man who's targeting the poor is also worthless. That's what it's saying, OK? It makes me think of, for example, just because you see him a bit, you know, on the way here. And if you're out and about preaching as well, especially if you do some of the high street stuff, the crack dealers around. OK, all these scummy crack dealers around who just take advantage of each other. They're just suppressing each other. I don't know if anyone's ever kind of known anyone who's got fall into this sort of stuff. It's horrendous what they do, these guys, OK? What they do is they often, they just go around, they go and find crackheads, these people. And yeah, they're poor and yeah, OK, they've made a lot of bad decisions. What they do is they go up to them, a lot of these crack dealers who generally are poor a lot of the time. You know, they've got other addictions if they manage to avoid the crack long enough to not ruin their life for that. And then they just tell them, I'm going to double bubble you, is what they say. And they're basically going, oh, don't worry, you can just pay me double in the future. And these guys are so desperate, they're taking what's a horrible addictive drug for now double what its apparent value is, because they don't have to pay it for a month, right? But they're just getting it pushed upon them. They're coming up to them. And then what they do as well is they go, right, well, I'll tell you what, I'll give you some crack if I could come and sit in your flat or your house or something, right? And they're in council places for the day. So they come from out of area. They find some of these local crackheads, sit in their council place. People come and then they're telling everyone to come here, like, because they're selling for the day. And then if the police come, it gets stashed in the sofa. It's the person who lived there. They get evicted. It's just it's just this horrendous life of people just taking advantage of each other, taking advantage of each other. Poor men oppressing poor men. They're scum, just scum. And they just take advantage of using people that are poor. And that's just one thing that came to mind. But that happens across the board in all different ways, different sort of addictions, different ways that people take advantage of each other. They could have tried to clean themselves up. Instead, they're just suppressing other poor people. They could have made an honest living. Instead, they're just going to oppress. They're going to take advantage of poor addicts, right? Or what's in the news recently? How about the Muslim rape gangs? It's a form of oppression, really, isn't it? Because what are they targeting? Are they targeting the rich? Are they targeting the politicians? Young daughters, little girls? No, they're targeting basically poor. The lower benefit class of the time as well. Just kids of people that maybe aren't about that. Just basically young, poor girls. And these Muslims are coming to this nation and targeting them. They're targeting. Do you know what they what they think they're targeting? Just by the way, in case you don't understand this yet. They think they're targeting young, poor Christian girls. That's what they think they are. Because they just think this is how they see it. That we're Christians. We're a Christian nation. And they're coming here basically conquering by just abusing, raping, pillaging young Christian girls. It's horrific. What's been going on? And I know I've preached on this stuff before and I know it's not news to a lot of people here. But it's been absolutely horrendous. It's vile what these people have been doing. And ultimately it's just oppression. It's oppression of young, defenseless kids who are just like naughty kids, naughty young girls. You know, kind of not really, you know, their parents aren't keeping all this stuff going on. Of course, the parents have a big part to play in this. But these people are just, a lot of them are poor people who have come here to just suppress other poor people. It's wicked, isn't it? Absolutely wicked. He's saying that these people are worthless, they're useless. They could have been something of value at one point in their life. But they wasted it. They just chose to oppress other poor people, whatever version of oppression it is. A poor man oppresseth the poor is like a sweeping rain which leaveth no food. So basically saying what I think the message, the answer from that proverb is whatever you're lot in life, be someone of value. You know, do something valuable. Don't just choose to persecute to oppress others. Verse four, they that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law contend with them. So talking about the law of God here, although that would include the law of the land, obviously where it doesn't contradict the law of God, just to bear that in mind. They that forsaken it or abandon it, the law of God ultimately here, reject it, they praise the wicked. And don't we see a lot of that around from so-called Christians, don't we? For example, those that claim to be Christians praising, and I'm not just on a hobby horse here, but praising sodomites. That's something we see a lot like now, don't we? Praising them, trying to welcome them in, act like they're just, you know, just one of us, you know, what great people they are and everything else. It's like, I'll tell you why, because they're rejecting the law, because they're forsaking the law, because they're not really believing what the word of God says. Praising wicked rulers. And you see that amongst the different Christians, the different, you know, so-called Christian churches, the Church of England Church being a big one here, praising false prophets. And Christians do that, right? Oh, well, you know, well, at least he says this, at least that false prophet is, for example, calling out the Muslims or something online. Well, you know, at least they're doing that. At least that false prophet or at least that wicked leader did this or did that. It's like, really, you're forsaking the law and you're praising the wicked. Because there's so many just clearly openly wicked people that people still want to praise, still want to find a way to praise them. They've all forsaken the law, but you can see it amongst God's people sometimes, praising God's enemies, the haters, the slanderers, all those types of people. And the people that do this in these various ways and praise, praising, like I said, the rulers, the false prophets, all of these, right, they're forsaking God's word. And in one way, OK, usually they're just not reading it, OK? And therefore, because they're not reading the word of God, they're less able to recognize bad people, wicked people, they're less able to recognize the wicked. They're more likely to praise the wicked. But also they're forsaking just clear scripture as well. Scriptures such as, and we're not going to go into loads of them for sake of time, but for example, famous one, Second Chronicles 19, 2, where it says, And Jehu, the son of Hanani the seer, went out to meet him and said to King Jehoshaphat, Should a soul help the ungodly and love them that hate the Lord? Therefore is wrath upon thee from before the Lord. I mean, that's pretty clear, isn't it? He's basically saying don't do it because you're going to get wrath from God. Praising people who are just openly wicked makes you think of the reprobate from Romans 1 32, who know in the judgment of God that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them. So we shouldn't be forsaking the law and praising wicked people. We shouldn't be having pleasure in wicked people, should we? Verse 4 said, They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law, contend with them. And he's not telling us to go and pick fights with wicked people. We shouldn't be trying to actively get in a physical battle, but just keeping the law will naturally result in contention with wicked people. That's just what's going to happen in your life. And aside from calling out wickedness from pulpits, shining the light on it by just living a godly life, you're going to get contention from just trying to live for God. And it's just going to be the opposite, you would hope, if you're living right for God, to how the wicked live. Part of keeping the law, obeying God, is to go out and preach the gospel, isn't it? Yeah, that's part of it, right? Psalm 96, feet after turn, it says, To declare his glory among the heathen, his wonders among all people. And when you do that, you're contending with the wicked. That's what the battle is ultimately about, isn't it? That's what it comes down to. Now, of course, there are different angles to it, OK? Try, you know, the battle rages in different places. The enemy wants to weaken us in different ways, weaken our families, weaken male leadership, weaken all these different things. But ultimately, what's the battle for? What's the end result? It's for people's souls. But when you keep the law of God, you're in the battle, aren't you? You keep the law of God, you're, by default, in the battle. And if you're in the battle, you're going to contend with wicked people. And to do that consistently for the long term, you need to be getting right in all those other areas too, don't you? So you need to be getting right in all those other areas in the word of God. If you want to be in the battle for the long term, look, you might get away with it for a while. But that sin will eventually drag you down and pull you out, won't it? That's why we're constantly trying to preach hard on getting that sin out of your life so that you can stay in the battle, because that's ultimately what we're looking for, the end result, which is people getting saved. They that forsake the law praise the wicked, but such as keep the law, contend with them. So for me, the proverb is a reminder to live for God. And it helps us to understand why those that don't seem to like wicked people, and why when we do live for God, there often seems to be contention. Verse five, evil men understand not judgment, but they that seek the Lord understand all things. So what judgment is it that evil men understand not? What's it talking about here? Turn to Romans chapter 11, turn to Romans 11. So many evil men understand the law of the land. They can even sit in the judge's seat. There's some wicked judges out there, right? Some people understand judgment, they understand the judgment in this land, don't they? Many evil men know God's judgment of certain sins. We just saw earlier Romans 1-32, who knowing the judgment of God, talking about reprobates. I mean, we'll understand that stuff. They know what it is, but the word judgment can apply to many different things. And here, I believe it's ultimately it's about the whole nature of God. In Romans 11, he's just finished explaining the irony of how some of those physical descendants of Abraham will get saved by gentiles preaching the gospel. OK, which was a sort of irony, right? He then says this in Romans 11-33, Romans 11-33. Oh, the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom and knowledge of God. How unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. So referring to his decisions, his nature, his will, his mind even. How unsearchable, he said. He said in verse 34, for who has known the mind of the Lord or who has been his counselor? Well, back in Proverbs 28, 5, he's making it clear that these evil men, these enemies of God, don't understand God. He said evil men understand not judgment. That's what he's saying. They don't understand God. He's saying, oh, the depth of the riches, both the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable is judgment. They don't understand it. OK, evil men understand not judgment. They might call themselves Christian. They might even read the Bible. The sneakiest kind might even copy save people, but they just don't really understand. They don't get the spiritual things. They don't really understand. Evil men understand not judgment, but they that seek the Lord understand all things. Now you say, but didn't Romans 33 say how unsearchable are his judgments and his ways past finding out. For who has known the mind of the Lord, who has been his counselor? Yes, but there's an exception to the rule. We looked on Wednesday at 1 Corinthians 2, which says this from verse 14. If you want to go flick over there, 1 Corinthians 2 and verse 14 says, But the natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness unto him. Neither can he know them because they're spiritually discerned. Verse 15 in 1 Corinthians 2, though, says, But he that is spiritual judgeth all things, yet he himself is judged of no man. For who hath known the mind of the Lord that he may instruct him? But we have the mind of Christ. If you're saved, you have the indwelling Holy Spirit who will guide you into all truth. You have the mind of Christ. But does that mean that all saved people understand all things? There's another condition. It's in verse 5, back in Proverbs 28. Evil men understand not judgment. So look, the wicked, the bad people, they just don't get it. But they that seek the Lord understand all things. So if you want to be the opposite of those evil men, you really want to understand the things of God. Seek the Lord. Seek the Lord. And obviously, there's salvation first, okay? But afterwards, if you want understanding, seek him. Seek his judgment. Seek his commandments. Seek his will. Is the answer just to read the Bible, then? Is that the answer? Okay, okay. Got it. Right. Okay. You're saved. You've got to seek him. Let's read the Bible. Yes, read the Bible. But Psalm 119 and verse 100, you don't have to turn there, it says, I understand more than the ancients because I keep my precepts. That's the understanding. That's how you get that understanding. That's how you understand all things. That's how you understand more than the ancients is because you seek the Lord. You read it, sure. But you keep it. You keep the precepts. So it's living it too. And when you do that, things just start to become more clear. When you live for God, that's when you really start to understand it more, don't you? And many people here kind of, you know, many people here have understood the spiritual battle a lot more and so much more as they've started living more, as this church started getting off the ground and we're preaching now regularly, you know, in church regularly, all these things which is hard for people with the lack of churches around. Getting soul and everything else, you just start to understand it more and more and more, don't you? You understand what he's really talking about. You understand what's really going on. You can get to the point of trying to understand all things. And that's when you're more able to see the evil men, those false prophets that we're so often warned about. He said evil men understand not judgment. Those people, they understand not judgment, but they that seek the Lord understand all things. So the proverb is telling us that if we want understanding, which will keep us safe from evil men, then seek the Lord. Verse 6, better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, and he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich. Now, this is a similar proverb to Proverbs 19.1, Proverbs 19.1 that we've already looked at said, better is the poor that walketh in his integrity. Here we saw uprightness. It says, and he that is perverse in his lips rather than his ways and is a fool. So these proverbs are to help us get our priorities straight. It's better to be poor and upright. Or we might, you know, you could say have integrity. We might say honesty, moral goodness, yeah, than being perverse or contrary in your ways. Your lips, we saw as well in Proverbs 19, which makes you a fool, according to Proverbs 19.1 as well. So here in Proverbs 28.6, you could say it's a rich fool. He said, better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness, and he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich. But sadly, how many people out there are seeking riches instead of uprightness? I mean, that's pretty much across the board, isn't it? People seek riches, they're not seeking uprightness. They're not seeking integrity, honesty. How many prioritize wealth as opposed to the integrity? They will even choose dishonesty, God, deceit to gain riches. They'll choose those things to get richer. And whether they get them or not, what are they? They're fools. They might be a rich fool, but they're still a fool. And God tells us that you're better off poor and honest, you're better off upright, having integrity than the opposite. Perverse, which is, it's not talking about perverts as we would think of the word, contrary, turned aside, but maybe rich. And really, they go hand in hand, OK, because covetousness is contrary to God and will snowball into other things, too. And when the Bible talks about the poor, it's the genuinely poor it's talking about here, OK. It's not just talking about people that, you know, kind of don't have as much as someone else. This is talking about the poor, genuinely poor people. You're better off being really poor, living hand to mouth type thing, like that and to be right with God. Because all the riches in the world, all the riches in the world can't get the wallpaper. They can't get good enough wallpaper to paper over those cracks. And if you're saved, you'll still be miserable. There's a lot of miserable people that are saved. And you know why? Because often it's the sin. It's all those things. It's just make that disconnection from God and make it hard to get right, hard to live your life, hard to get contentment. Is he telling us to seek poverty? No. OK, no, he's telling us to seek honesty and not riches. That's the key point. Seek honesty, don't seek the riches. Better is the poor that walketh in his uprightness and he that is perverse in his ways, though he be rich. The lesson is to focus on being upright in life and not on wealth. Verse seven. Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son, but he that is a companion of righteous men, shameeth his father. So first off, OK, you want wisdom. You want to be wise in life. Keep the law. OK. And of course, I'm not talking about the meats, drinks, divers, washings, carnal ordinances imposed on them until the time of reformation. You know, the New Testament there, but the moral law, OK, God's standards of righteousness haven't changed. OK, nothing's changed. God still has the same stands of righteousness, same stands of morality. Galatians 3 21 said, Is the law then against the promises of God? God forbid. For if there had been a law given which could have given life verily, righteousness should have been by the law. OK, no, it's not like a load of just arbitrary stuff. And it's just, oh, well, it's kind of like old fashioned stuff. He wouldn't think like that now. No, righteousness should have been by the law. OK. Whoso keepeth the law is a wise son. Says verse seven there in Proverbs 28. So, look, wisdom, and just to make it clear, because, and I know that if you've been going through this series, you should understand this by now. Wisdom isn't just a useful thing to have, right? It will change your life. Wisdom will change your life. We should be striving for it, striving for wisdom. That's the reason I wanted to go through Proverbs. The reason I wanted to try and do every single verse in Proverbs is because I believe that we could all, we all surely should be striving for wisdom. And this is the go to book for it, isn't it? But it's the whole word of God. We should be striving for it. It's a principal thing. Proverbs 4 7 said, Wisdom is a principal thing. Therefore, get wisdom with all thy getting, get understanding. And it's all here. It's all in his, it's all here. It's all, it's all come out of his mouth, isn't it? It's all here. But of course, just knowing it and not doing it, well, that's kind of the opposite. You know the wisdom, you got it there, but you don't do it. You don't follow it. That's pretty unwise. And that's pretty foolish, isn't it? You know what you should do, but you don't do it. We've got it here, but it's not just reading it. It's doing it, isn't it? OK, whoso keepeth the law is a wise son. Not just whoso just readeth the law, whoso keepeth the law, trying to live for God. Yeah, is a wise son. But he that is a companion of riotous men, shameth his father. Who are these riotous men? Well, go back to Proverbs 23, Proverbs 23. In Luke 15, the story of the prodigal son, Luke 15, 13 says this. And not, you're going to Proverbs 23, Luke 15, 13 says, And not many days after the youngest son gathered altogether and took his journey into a far country, and there wasted his substance with riotous living, riotous living. And Proverbs 23, verse 20, where you are, says this. So we've just seen a younger son waste his substance with riotous living. Proverbs 23, 20 says, Be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunkard and the glutton shall come to poverty and drowsiness shall clothe a man with rags. So here in Proverbs 23, it's a glutton. It's been used interchangeably. He said, be not among winebibbers, among riotous eaters of flesh, for the drunkard, talk about the winebibber and the glutton, talk about the riotous eater of flesh. In Luke 15, he's wasting all of his inheritance with riotous living. So basically, it's excessive indulgence. It's people that have little to no self-control. Riotous people that are just, they're just indulging in anything they can indulge in, basically. Who so keepeth the law as a wise son? But either it is a companion of riotous men, that's his overindulgent people, shameeth his father. So being a companion, hanging around with the party animals, those who are just chasing indulgence. And don't forget that, you know, when the adult offspring is told to be stoned, you know, back in, I think it's in the book of Deuteronomy, he's described as a glutton, isn't he? A drunkard and a glutton. And a lot of the time this goes hand in hand, you know, that sort of just overindulgence in carnal things. It's not always food, it goes hand in hand with bad people. But it's just pleasures, food, drink, you can say, party, lifestyle. Chasing the next high in whatever way. Why would being just a companion of people like that shame your father? Why would just having those people as companions? He didn't say that that person is that, he just said being a companion. I'll tell you why, because they'll drag you down with them. People like that drag you down, OK? They will eventually destroy you. Proverbs 13, 20 says, he that walketh with wise men shall be wise, but a companion of fools shall be destroyed. You're a companion with these types of people that will drag you down. If you walk with wise men, that's how you'll be wise. So who we spend our time with will affect us. And now notice how he's really focusing particularly on the young here in his proverb. Who so keepeth the law as a wise son? And that he, but he that is a companion of riotous men, shameeth his father. And I think he's talking to the young, especially here, because as a general rule, as you get older, this is less of a problem. Especially if you have a family, you just don't have the time to be a companion with riotous men, do you? You've got a family, you've got a job, you've got, you've got, I mean, how much time do you have for like your buddies, your friends? I mean, very little usually, right? But for the younger men and women, friends can, look, I think the message is that friends can be really dangerous because you generally have that time. You have that need more as well, because you don't have that spouse, you know, who is a friend, ultimately a best friend. So often people are seeking friends, seeking people to be a companion in life, and they can be dangerous. Who so keepeth the law as a wise son? But he that is a companion of riotous men, shameeth his father. Be wise, keep the law, which, by the way, says not to be among these types of people. Says not to be among them, yeah? So that's part of keeping the law, keep away from bad people. Verse eight, he that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance. So he that by usury and unjust gain increases his substance. He shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. So usury is interest, loaning money out with interest, which, although commonplace across our world, this is a pretty common thing, isn't it? It's not how God wants us behaving, OK? And if either that way or it's not just usury, just other unjust gains, so some other immoral way of making money is how someone gains wealth in this world, it will eventually find its way to someone that pities the poor. That's what he's saying here, OK? He that by usury and unjust gain increaseth his substance. He shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. It will find its way there. Proverbs 13, 22 said, A good man leaveth an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. The wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just. So the just will pity the poor. In case you're thinking, well, I don't see all of these wicked banks, you know, with all their money just, you know, giving it away to the just or to the poor. Eventually, one way or other, it will happen. Eventually, because it's not going with them when they die. OK, all this, all this wealth and real wealth I'm talking about. OK, it's not going with these people. 1 Timothy 6, 7 says, For we brought nothing into this world and it is said that we can carry nothing out. So all of the wealth and I'm not talking about paper money, OK? I'm not talking about the paper money scam and everything else where it's not, you know, it seems to be getting worth less and less by the day, right? I'm not talking about talentless artwork, for example, and all the other things that somehow prices have been inflated in which aren't worth anything. We were talking about artwork earlier, just some of it is absolutely terrible, right? But people have somehow conned people into spending thousands, if not millions of pounds, sometimes into things which are talentless nonsense. But all of the stuff where the sum of its parts is very little, we're not talking about. But, but substance, rare things of worth, for example, anything that lasts through to the rule and reign of Christ is being laid up for the just. Ultimately, it's been gathered for him, the Lord, that will pity the poor. He that by use of an unjust gain increaseeth his substance, he shall gather it for him that will pity the poor. Ultimately, that's anything that's worth any substance that will last is going to eventually be gathered for him, the Lord, that will pity the poor. So I think for me, it's a reminder that all of that dishonest gain out there will only end up in the right place eventually. So don't worry about it. Stop worrying about it. Stop worrying about all these rich, wealthy scumbags and all this dishonest money and all this and more money. Don't worry about it, because eventually it's going to go to the right place, eventually. First line, he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer should be abomination. Now, this is a proverb that we could easily use in the wrong way. OK, this could easily be used in the wrong way. For example, if you don't obey every commandment, your prayer is abomination. Does anyone believe that? If you don't obey every single commandment in the word of God, your prayer... Well, that's everyone's prayer is an abomination, right? If you miss your Bible reading one day, your prayer is abomination. Anyone think that? Of course not, right? But it did say he that turneth away his ear from hearing the law. What if you choose, well, I'm not reading it today, I'm not in the mood today, is your prayer now abomination? That means God hates it. Do you believe that? If you forsake a church service, your prayer is abomination. Well, you're turning away your ear from hearing the law, you miss that preaching. Now your prayer is abomination. Anyone believe that? Honestly, because you'll have people, and I'm not thinking about anyone in particular, I haven't heard this verse preach, at least not that I can remember. But I'm sure there'll be people that will preach that sort of stuff, who will jump on that, go to the extreme with it. Where does it start and where does it end? Well, when 1 Thessalonians 5 17 said, pray without ceasing, we could end up surely then being an unceasing abomination. Right? If that was the case, where Philippians 4 6 says, be careful for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. That could be some pretty constant abomination, couldn't it? In every single thing, depending on how we interpret this proverb. Yeah. This is quite important to get this right, if that's how you might be leaning towards interrupting it. Well, turn over to Psalm 109, Psalm 109, which I believe helps us to understand what sort of person this is talking about. Psalm 109, it's the psalm of David, it's prophetic about Judas, but it's about the children of the devil persecuting him. He says this is Psalm 109 in verse 1. Psalm 109 1 says, hold not thy peace, O God of my praise. Psalm 109 and verse 1, verse 2, for the mouth of the wicked and the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. We've seen what the wicked is usually referring to. OK, the mouth of the deceitful are opened against me. They have spoken against me with a lying tongue. They compassed me about also with words of hatred and fought against me without a cause. For my love, they are my adversaries. There is enemies, but I give myself unto prayer and they have rewarded me evil for good and hatred for my love. Set thou a wicked man over him and let Satan stand at his right hand. When he shall be judged, let him be condemned and let his prayer become sin. He then goes on to call other curse upon him. But this is the type of person whose prayer is sin. It's a God rejecter. It's someone that's rejected the word of God, which is what the law is often referring to as a whole. That's what it's talking about. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, it's talking about the word of God. Even his prayer shall be abomination. It's a God rejecting reprobate, whose prayer is abomination. But then why are they praying? You might be going, well, why are they praying if it's a reprobate? Because most of these people don't admit to what they are, do they? They're the people saying, Lord, Lord, we're not prophesied in thy name. In thy name have cast out devils, in thy name have done many wonderful works. They even, they've convinced themselves they're doing things for God in his name. The Lord Jesus Christ. They convince themselves of their holiness, that's why they're called the proud. They're called the proud for a reason. They've rejected and changed the truth of God into a lie, often made a false version, some idol of some kind. Well, when these people pray, and believe me, they pray. It's an abomination. God hates it. That's what it's talking about here. When the Catholic priest prays, it's not, God's not going, oh, well, at least he's trying his best, he just doesn't get it. No, it's abomination. He hates it, he hates that sort of person. He hates reprobates, he hates their prayers. When the repent of your sins false prophet prays, he doesn't go, well, he's nearly there. Well, he calls himself a Baptist and he's kind of got the rest of it seemingly, his ducks are in order. He's just a bit repent of your sins-y. No, he hates it. It's abomination. That prayer is abomination. When the sodomite prays in whatever area and whatever version of religion he's got himself into, it's abomination. He hates it. That's what it's talking about. He that turneth away his ear from hearing the law, even his prayer shall be abomination. It's a reminder that however holy religious these people sometimes try to appear, God hates it. He hates their so-called holiness. He doesn't go, well, at least they're being a little bit holy, he hates it. Verse 10. So another one of those chapters of Proverbs focusing a lot on the wicked. I don't think anyone is upset about that. Maybe you are, but OK. And what do we talk about here? You know, here, the evil men, it's the same sorts of people. Here, it's, you know, people causing the righteous to go astray. You know, he's going to fool himself into his own pit. So it's talking about these same types of people, OK. They don't just loiter in government. They don't just loiter in dark alleys or behind pulpits. They will come and target you elsewhere too, OK. Here, they're digging pits for the righteous. They're putting stumbling blocks. They're trying desperately to make the righteous fool. The strange women, for example. Yeah, there's those types of people who are trying to cause the righteous to go astray in an evil way. Yeah, they're trying to target righteous men out there a lot of the time. Men, you've got to be careful for that. But as well, the adulterous men out there. People trying to target women, trying to smooth talk them, charm them, et cetera. The workplace scorner is trying to, look, they're trying to get you to go astray. They're trying to get you to fall. The eternal bad influence family and friends, you know, those ones. It's not just a little bit, it's constant. It's like they just target your kids and just want to constantly be a bad influence to your kids. And what are they ultimately doing? They're trying to cause the righteous to go astray. The slanderers, same goal. The false prophets, same goal. The online tempters in whatever way, same goal. Well, if they're targeting God's people, they will eventually fall in the pit that they've dug. They will fall. The whores, whoremongers and adulterers, I believe, will often end up with the wrecked future relationship themselves. When they do decide to stop being like that, to stop being a whore or whoremonger, an adulterer, a strange woman, whatever. I think they'll end up with a wrecked relationship in the future, probably the same happening to them. The scorners get scorned, don't they? The bad influences end up influenced into probably something destructive. They probably end up with some bad influence in their life in the end. The hypocritical slanderers and false prophets get exposed eventually. Usually happens in the end. They care so much what people think, but their folly ends up manifest to all. Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit, but the upright shall have good things in possession. So the upright will prosper in the end. God will help you through the attacks, through the trials and temptations. He'll give you what you need, right? Matthew 6.33 says, But seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you. So he said, you know, part of that, part of his righteousness is be upright, live for God, seek his righteousness. Live right, and you shall have good things in possession. You'll have what you need, right? Whoso causeth the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit, but the upright shall have good things in possession. I think the proverb is a warning of the dangers out there with a reminder that being upright will help you prosper through. Verse 11. Last couple. Last few, sorry. We're up to 14 now. OK, verse 11. The rich man is wise in his own conceit, but the poor that hath understanding searcheth him out. OK, so rich or wealthy people are sadly so often very prideful, aren't they? So they're usually very proud of their supposed wisdom in being rich. And that can even be inherited riches, where they are proud of their fathers, even their genetics, maybe. It's just pride, isn't it? Even if they didn't earn a penny of it themselves. And in their own conceit or their own mind, their own beliefs, they believe not just that they've succeeded, but that they're wise with it as well. I don't know if you notice that. Talk to rich people. They always have this air of sort of feeling of superiority, don't they, when they talk to you. And this feeling that they're just so wise, whether they earned it, however they earned it, whether they were lucky with it, whether they inherited it, whatever. You just get that, don't you? They've got this wisdom with their wealth, right? They often talk down to the common man. They talk down to the person of less wealth as if they must therefore be intellectually inferior. If you notice that as well. A lot of the time, wealthy people, people with maybe just good breeding to a degree or things like that, a lot of the time they look at people poor as if they must therefore be stupid, must therefore not be intelligent. But often though, riches are just a sign of covetousness. Often, not always, but often they are, aren't they? Often rich people, I was talking about this the other day with a friend, just about someone we used to know. And, you know, and he's telling him, I've bought this many houses and I've invested here and I've done that. And it's, and the guy, it wasn't that he was a particularly bright guy, he's just a covetous guy. Yeah, and he's got a load of money, but is that a good thing? Is he really achieved? And this is the opposite of being wise, isn't it? Being covetousness isn't wise. First Timothy 6, 9 says, but they that will be rich, so these are people focusing on riches that want to be rich, fall into temptation and a snare and into many foolish and hurtful lusts which drown men in destruction and perdition. And if you've ever been around these people, they do often think they sound wise with their money talk. You know, they'll start telling you about, well, you know, if you invest in this and if you thought about doing this and if you thought about maximising your money in this way and, you know, and doing this and doing that. And it's like, they just sound like fools. They just sound like covetous fools. You just see through it, don't you? It's the opposite. They're not wise. Verse 11 says, the rich man is wise in his own conceit, but the poor that have understanding searcheth him out. Now, remember that the knowledge of the holy is understanding, that the poor godly person, it's saying basically, someone who has a knowledge of the holy, searcheth him out. What does that mean that he searcheth him out? We might say he sees through him or maybe you could say he's not fooled by him. He sees through him. He understands him. He understands the reality. Understand what he's saying and what he's thinking, you know, and sometimes there's a difference there. Sometimes it just goes hand in hand. So there's an irony that the rich guy is thinking that he's wise. He's, I'm so wise because I'm so rich. But the poor guy with knowledge from the word of God, because that's what that wisdom comes from, that's what that understanding comes from. He sees the truth. He sees the covetousness. He sees a lack of wisdom. He sees the truth in people. The more wisdom you get from the word of God, the more you start to see that. The more often spiritual discernment you get, the more, and it's not just spiritual discernment and suddenly understanding the spirit in things and what reasons people are saying things. The more you just start to see, don't you? Because it comes from the word of God. Because that's ultimate wisdom. That's ultimate understanding. So how, how do we, how do we apply this son? So this guy is seeing that covetousness. He's seeing that lack of wisdom. He's seeing those things. How do we apply this? Well, perhaps it can help us when dealing with the rich in life. Maybe we can have that, we can understand the pride issues. You know, when you have that understanding, you can see that, you can see those pride issues early on. You notice that sometimes when you knock on that rich person's door, you know, had they had a rich door knock, had you just spoke to them in the street, often without knowing what they have and haven't got, you can understand it straight. This guy's got pride issues. This person's, this person's going to have an issue hearing the gospel. Maybe, maybe we'll give more grace to rich believers. Perhaps it's something that they will take longer to work on. You know, and those in our lives, maybe family, you know, if you've got people that maybe have a bit more money, they've got a bit more pride, maybe don't expect that salvation straight away. Maybe, maybe when it comes to the lost, right, understanding why they're so unreceptive. And for those that we know, like I said, looking maybe for those receptive times, when they're going to be more likely to accept that they're not as wise as they think. And sometimes you've got to pick your time for that with people in life, can't you? It can be when those hard times come. But, you know, giving grace to those that, you know, are around us, that are around us as well. But verse 11 said, the rich man is wise in his own conceit, but the poor that have understanding search them out. So I think the proverb, it's helping us to understand the rich in life, but also, you know, it's reminding us ultimately of the gain of just understanding. And it's not about wealth, it's not about riches in life. That shouldn't be your goal. Verse 12, when righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden. So first part of the proverb is about when righteous men are rejoicing. Now turn to Proverbs 11 to see the knock-on effect of this. OK, you'll turn to Proverbs 11. We just saw in verse 12 there, when righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden. Now Proverbs 11, 10, Proverbs 11, 10 says this, when it goeth well with the righteous, so Proverbs chapter 11 and verse 10, when it goeth well with the righteous, the city rejoiceth, and when the wicked perish, there is shouting. So when things are going well with the righteous, there's a knock-on effect to the surrounding people too. And the people around you, the people living amongst you, there's going to be a knock-on effect, they're going to be rejoicing. God will bless and curse a place dependent upon the amount of safe people there, evident in, for example, passages of scripture like in Genesis 19 and before that when they're talking about it, you know, about the fact that he would have spared that whole place for 10 righteous people. Sodom, that is, and Gomorrah. And that is ultimately a result, you would say, of how things, I would say, sorry, of how things are going with those saved people. Because here's the thing, right, if things are going well with the saved, yeah, when it goes well with the righteous, well the rest of the city rejoiceth, because if things are really going well with us, what's the knock-on effect? People are getting saved, aren't they? Could we, would we really go, would we be going, oh, things are going so well with this church. We didn't get any salvations last year, but it's really going well because we had some really good services. This church has been such a success for the last four years because the music sounds nice right now. And, you know, there was some, you know, there was a few good sermons over the last four years. What a success. Oh, it's been great. We've had 500 people through the door, but no salvations. Is it going well with the righteous? It ain't going well with the righteous. OK, so really here, OK, for when it goes well with the righteous, it affects, it's a knock-on effect to the area. This city will rejoice when it goes well with us here. And hence, 2 Chronicles 7, 14 says, if my people, which are called by my face, shall humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. OK, so there's that effect of God. There's God will bless a place based on his people, how they live, etc. And it goes without saying that when righteous men are rejoicing, there must be some great glory happening like we've seen there. When righteous men do rejoice, back in verse 12 of Proverbs 28, there is great glory. OK, so there must be some good things happening if we're rejoicing. If we're rejoicing, there's some glory happening. We rejoiced last year, right? We rejoiced at the end of the year when we hit 1,500 salvations. That was a great thing to rejoice. That was aside from the Havamenni in Malawi. That was 1,500 salvations. The best year, that was something that we rejoiced over, right? That was some great glory. Ultimately, thanks to God. Yeah, we're not trying to take the credit for that, but it was something to glory in. We're glorying in the Lord, blessing this church with that as a small, new church that's only been going for a short amount of time. But that was a glory. And that has had a positive effect in this area. Think how many people in this city last year were rejoicing after hearing the Gospel. A lot of people in this city in South End are the last year rejoicing after hearing the Gospel. Yeah? When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory. Yeah? But when the wicked rise, a man is hidden. So what does it mean a man is hidden? I think it means that people hide out. They stay away. For example, Proverbs 29.2 says, Now, when the wicked rule a place, people are mourning, they're hiding. They don't want to go out after dark. They don't want to go out before dark sometimes, right? The wicked in authority in great numbers destroy places, like what I was talking about earlier on. For example, do you think normal people want to hang out in Brighton, for example? Do normal people fancy a little day out, or how about a night out in Brighton? No, because ultimately the wicked have risen there, haven't they? Risen beyond belief. You don't want to hang out there, do you? I went to a church there for a while. That was rough. We even went soul winning in Brighton, in the high street in Brighton. That was pretty unreceptive soul winning, OK? But, yeah, when the wicked rise, people don't want to go out, they want to hide. And it's not just Brighton, like certain areas of London, there are certain places where there's a lot of wicked people around. Wicked people have risen in those areas and they're getting more and more bolder. You just don't want to be there. There's a pretty vile place around, aren't there, right? And around the world you can think of many. When righteous men do rejoice, there is great glory, but when the wicked rise, a man is hidden. So basically they're connected. If you don't want to be in hiding, basically get out there and make this place more righteous. Yeah, for me, that's a good encouragement, isn't it? We want to be rejoiced, we want to get other people rejoiced, we want to get people righteous and therefore rejoicing. There's going to be great glory. But if we don't do that, the wicked are going to rise and then we're going to probably end up wanting to hide out, OK? Verse 13, last two now. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper, but whoso confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. So now this isn't talking about salvation, OK? Prospering or not. Just think about that wording. He that covereth his sins shall not prosper. OK, it's hardly a fitting word for eternal hell or not, isn't it? OK, no, it's obviously about endless life here, OK, and I'm preaching to the choir here. I think everyone understands this. What does it mean to cover your sins? It's to conceal, to not disclose. And this isn't talking about, to me, in the confession box, OK? You don't have to come to me in the confession box. If you're wondering where that is, just go around there. OK, you don't have to come to me, sit on the sofa and I sit behind the glass. Tell me all. No, we don't have a confession box anymore here. OK, or, I'm still kidding. OK, it's not, it's not about, it's not about, but it's not about to the group on the WhatsApp group, OK, either. It's not like, right, OK, it's Monday, time to tell all guys, OK, and it's like, right, OK, just let you know what I've been doing all week, OK? OK, that's not what he's talking about. We don't have to confess our sins to each other, OK? We don't have to do that. Look, sometimes, you know, if you've got some faults and things, you want to talk about them with things, you're welcome to do that. Don't be one of them that's just constantly like, this is what I did last week, oh, you know, I can't believe it, oh, that's why. And I don't know if you've ever been across people, we've had people like that before, have people that just want to start giving you their shopping list of sins for the week. You're just like, I don't want to hear it. It's weird, right? OK, turn to 1 John 1. Something I think they just need to offload, right? But some people go extreme with this, OK, turn to 1 John 1. God doesn't want us to try to hide our sins from him, OK, to not acknowledge them. He doesn't want us to pretend that there's no issue. OK, we should consider sin, you know, how we should, you know, sin is still serious, right? Yeah, we acknowledge we accept all sins. We acknowledge and accept that we all have failings, that we are not sinless, we're far from sinless, right? But we also should be acknowledging and accepting our sin and not just kind of making it out to just not be a big deal. I'm under grace, man. You know, no, look, God wants us to try and live right. And you know what? And when we mess up, which we invariably do, and when we're sinning and we're aware of our sin, well, he wants us to come to him with that. But of course, if we say that we have no sin in 1 John 1.8, we deceive ourselves, the truth is not in us. And if you think you're sinless, just if anyone out there does think they are, you need to wake up and get saved. You know, wake up and go and get saved. But if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Now, this is what God wants us to do, to come to him, to confess, which then helps us to get right in the future. We're acknowledging our sins, aren't we? When we're acknowledging things, it's easier then if you're accepting them, acknowledging them, you bring them to God. OK, with that, you're more likely to be able to be cleansed from that unrighteousness. And you're likely wanting to be cleansed too. If you come into God with sin, you're more likely to want that cleansing to get it out of your life. You're genuinely repenting of your sins and again, nothing to do with your salvation. But he then doesn't need to punish us to get us to acknowledge that we've done wrong. OK, so often he's just going to, if you're coming to him, you're bringing it to him, you're saying, I'm sorry. And he doesn't necessarily need to get your attention, which is what I think Proverbs 28, 13 is saying, which says, He that coveth his sins shall not prosper, but who so confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. Now, notice how it's not just the confessing no. He wants us to forsake our sins. But the first part of that is acknowledging them, confessing them, isn't it? OK, so to forsake them, you kind of need to acknowledge them, you need to confess them to God first. Which goes hand in hand with you then forsaking them. We could say renouncing or rejecting them. OK, so, so, yeah, you might slip up and it's not like, right, you didn't forsake it because you slipped up a year, two years in the future. No, but it's rejecting those sins, renouncing them, it's not wanting to do them again. It's forsaking them. Are you genuinely confessing and wanting cleansing of that sin or are you covering it? Because people do, don't they? Make an excuse, you know, find a way to cover your sin, to not bring it to God. He that coveth his sins shall not prosper, but you won't prosper, but who so confesseth and forsaketh them shall have mercy. So the problem is pretty clear, OK, it's to receive the regular mercy of our Heavenly Father who scourgeth every son who may receive it. OK, so you want some mercy in life from that scourging where you need to confess and forsake. Verse 14, last one. Happy is the man that feareth all way, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. OK, so last one, like I said, God doesn't want just, you know, he doesn't just want a bit of fear when we got saved. OK, obviously, look, the fear of the Lord is a beginning wisdom, OK, but he doesn't just want a bit of fear now and then after that, right? He wants us to always fear him, to just be in a continuous, a continuous mindset of fearing the Lord. And here's the perhaps strange sounding thing about that. When you fear him always, you'll be happy. Doesn't sound right, does it, in sort of, you know, to the outside, to the onlooker, what, so fearing God is what makes you happy? Yeah. Yeah, it does. Fearing God, always fearing God will make you consistently happy. Why? Because when you're fearing him, you're less likely to partake in those sins that will ruin your life. That's what he's talking about. That's what mischief is, OK? Mischief isn't, he's not talking about, like I said many times, it's not like, you know, a bit of like practical joking or something, OK? Mischief is bad stuff. You're more likely to do those things which will please you and make you content. You're more likely to do the Christian life. So when you're fearing God, you're more likely to try and get sin out of your life. You're more likely to do the things which ultimately will make you content in living for God. And the more of your life that you fear him, the more you'll avoid all of those pitfalls and being the things that make you happy. And ultimately, living for God does make you happy, doesn't it? And the sin just doesn't. It will not make you happy. Yeah, you might get a little bit of temporary pleasure. There are, you know, the pleasures of sin for a season. But after that, it's a lot of heartache, you know, and there's nothing better than feeling like, yeah, I've done all right. I've done all right, I've done all right. You know, for the last couple of days, I've done all right this week. I feel like I'm doing right. I'm living for God. I'm doing this. There is a contentment. There is ultimately a happiness that comes with that. OK, he said, he said, happy is the man that fearth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. So there are those that harden to the things of God. They shut their ears. They convince themselves of the compromise, for example. They fall into mischief, into bad things. And, you know, I've said it many times, OK, but it's a good kind of analogy maybe to think about. It's much harder to climb up the slope than to slide down it. It is ultimately easy to backslide. It's easy. It's easy to slide down. It's harder to climb up. But once you slide down, you've got a lot further to start climbing again. And it ain't good wallowing in the mire at the bottom of that slope. So don't harden your heart. The sliding back is easy. But turn to Psalm 1, turn to Psalm 1, just finish off. Verse 14 here said, Happy is the man that fearth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. So what's going to help you fear always? OK, how are we going to be that happy man that fearth always? Well, you need him on your mind and on your heart, don't you? If you're not thinking about him, are you really going to be fearing him? Do you fear things that never come across your mind, that you never really think about? No. And if you want to fear those things always, you need to be constantly thinking about them, right? People with phobias and things like that, when they think about those things, they're fearing, right? And sometimes they need to like not think about those things, stop feeling. Well, if we want to fear God, we need to be thinking about God a lot, right? That's why Psalm 1 says of the blessed man, and we might say the happy man. It says in verse 2 of Psalm 1, but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and in his law doth he meditate day and night. And he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water that bringeth forth his fruit and his season. His leaf also shall not wither and whatsoever he doeth shall prosper. So you want to fear the Lord always, you need to be regularly and consistently in his word. That's what it comes back to, it regularly comes back to this, but we regularly need reminding. Because the flesh doesn't want to read it, the flesh doesn't want to listen to it, the flesh doesn't want to memorize it. The flesh drifts off often when the word is being preached. When it's a word, the flesh goes, and I don't look for it, but it is things you know, it's all right. If you're reading passage, you're reading a verse, sometimes it can be almost an overall sort of glazing for a bit. Then when it's like, but let me tell you a story, the eyes come alive, honestly, right? And it's because the flesh doesn't want it. The flesh doesn't really want the word of God. We need discipline to read the word of God. We need discipline to pay attention to the word of God. We need discipline to stay tuned in when the word of God is being preached. And the verses, when you're reading the Bible, you're reading a short passage, there's a kind of glazing. And then when it comes to, oh, well, let me tell you what that... And then people come alive again because the flesh wants to hear the words, wants to hear the stories, wants to hear all those. And they're not all bad. I'm not saying they're bad things. You know, otherwise preaching would just be reading the Bible. It would be like, all right, let's read Proverbs 28 for the 15th time. We've still got another 10 minutes. Let's keep going. No, that's not what preaching is. Preaching should expound upon the word. It should give you the sense and the meaning and everything else. But ultimately, the flesh doesn't really want the word. The flesh likes, the flesh doesn't like the spiritual word. So we have to discipline ourselves with that, don't we? So you go, oh, it just keeps telling us the Bible, the Proverbs just keep telling us to be in the Lord, to be in the word again. Yeah, because we need to be constantly told because we so easily drift from it. And I've said it many times and I just like to say it because it makes you think about it. If I asked for a raise of hands now for who read their Bible this morning and for how long they read their Bible this morning and I gave you some time. The results, if everyone was really honest, would be a lot worse than you'd imagine in reality, because the flesh just doesn't want it. And you really have to, you have to discipline yourself to read the word of God. You have to, you have to, you have to be in the spirit to do so or at least make yourself get into the spirit to do it. So you want to fear the Lord always, then it's by being in his word. It said, Happy is a man that feareth always, but he that hardeneth his heart shall fall into mischief. So the Proverbs simple, fear him consistently if you want consistent happiness. Don't risk hardening your heart to him. OK, and on that, that was Proverbs chapter 28 verses 114. We're going to finish your word of prayer. Father, thank you for your word. Thank you, Lord, for the many lessons we can get from those verses of Proverbs 28. Lord, help us to apply them to our loves, help us to dwell upon them as we go into this week. Lord, especially those we really need, you know, each individually here today to help us as we go forward. Lord, help everyone here to have a blessed week, to get home safely this evening and return on Wednesday for the midweek service, if at all possible. In Jesus' name, we pray all of this. Amen.